We – starkpartners – are convinced that we can only advise our clients in the best possible and most effective way if we move with the times. To this end, we try to keep our knowledge up to date regardless of the industry so that we can communicate with you on an equal footing about the current information and factual situation.

The steel foundry industry is one of the most important industries in Germany. This industry also has a long tradition for starkpartners, as we have already successfully handled several mandates in this industry. As an example, Gießerei Hundhausen from Schwerte should be mentioned here, which was sold by starkpartners at the beginning of 2021 through a structured transaction process. We will also advise you in the field of steel foundries in the future in a target-oriented manner and maximize your company value by drawing on up-to-the-minute knowledge.

With this article, we want to give you an up-to-date insight into the market for steel foundries in Germany. To this end, we begin with a list of measures that steel foundries can use to curb the negative economic consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic:

Corona Update from the Federal Association of the German Foundry Industry BDG

Labor law and occupational safety

  • Implementation of the Federal Emergency Brake in the State Ordinance
  • Employer certificate for the commute to work during the curfew for employees necessary
  • Clarification that the obligation to offer tests in accordance with § 5 Infection Protection Act for temporary workers by the hirer of the temporary worker due to the transfer of occupational safety obligations pursuant to § 11 para. 6 sentence 1 AÜG

Financial aid program

  • Equity grant under the bridging assistance III newly regulated; can be received by affected companies if at least three months since November 2020 a loss of sales of more than 50% per month is recorded.
  • Equity grant is granted in addition to the regular funding of the bridging assistance III
  • Increase in fixed cost reimbursement, if a company has suffered a loss of sales of more than 70%, increased from 90% to up to 100%

Short-time work allowance and personnel

  • permissible duration of short-term employment once this year, limited for the period from 03/01/2021 to and including 10/31/2021, for all forms of short-term employment extended to a maximum duration of four months or 102 working days
  • The temporary opening of the KuG for temporary work until 12/31/2021 also applies to temporary employment agencies that introduce short-time work by 06/30/2021.

Law

  • For the period 01/01/2021-04/30/2021, the obligation to file for insolvency was suspended
  • A renewed extension is currently being discussed. The results are not yet known at the time of publication of the Corona update (04/29/2021).
  • Possibility of deferral of social security contributions 04/2021 according to letter of the GKV-Spitzenverband of 04/20/2021 on application of the companies affected by the shutdown possible at the latest until the due date for the contributions of the month May 2021

Segmentation of products and services:

Steel castings for rail vehicles

55% of the €1.5 billion in industry sales in 2020 were generated by steel foundries with steel castings for rail vehicles. These products include engines for rail vehicles, castings for wagons, bearing housings, plain bearings, gear transmissions, and pulleys and couplings.

Above all, the increasing urbanization of the German population, which makes an expansion of the public transport network necessary, is driving the high share of sales of steel castings for rail vehicles in the market.

LibertySteel also wants to participate in this share of sales by taking over the ailing Hayange rail mill in northern France in July 2020 (at the end of this article, under the point “Current transactions in the steel foundry industry”, there is a list of major transactions in the steel foundry industry).

Steel castings for mechanical and automotive engineering

18.4% of industry sales in 2020 in the amount of €1.5 billion were generated by steel foundries with the production of castings for mechanical and automotive engineering. As products, castings for pumps and compressors, which can be used both in motor vehicles and in mechanical engineering, can be mentioned here. In the past five years, a strong increase in castings for automotive engineering has been observed on the market, which can compensate for the decline in sales in mechanical engineering in recent years.

Other steel castings

Other steel castings, with an industry sales share of 26.6%, include steel castings for road vehicles, steel pipes and pipe fittings made of cast steel, and steel castings for engines and drive elements. In particular, sales revenues with steel castings for road vehicles have increased in recent years. The remaining sales segments have developed proportionally constantly in the past. IBIS World also forecasts no significant changes for the future.

In January 2021, LibertySteel took over Huta Częstochowa to expand its sales shares in the area of other steel castings. Huta Częstochowa primarily processes steel into sheets and pipes. LibertySteel had this deal cost around $51 million (see the point “Current transactions in the steel foundry industry” at the end of this article)

Demand determinants:

The market-side demand for the products listed above is determined by different determinants:

The steel price is considered one of the most important influencing factors. With a low steel price, not only the input costs of the companies decrease, but the sales price of the companies also decreases. The falling sales price accordingly increases the demand of the customers for steel castings.

Another significant influencing factor on demand is the use of substitute materials. Above all, aluminum and iron represent substitution possibilities for steel as an input material. In principle, steel casting production is associated with a high use of energy. Cast iron has the advantage over steel that less energy is required for the manufacturing process, since, for example, the melting point of iron is below that of steel. The advantage of aluminum over steel is its lower weight, which gives it clear advantages over steel, especially in automotive engineering.

Other influencing factors on the demand for steel castings are the household net income of private households, the interest rate level and exchange rates.

Competitive environment

Market concentration

In general, the concentration in the steel foundry industry is low. It is noticeable in this industry that no company has a market share of 5% or more. The industry consists mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises. 79% of the companies employ less than 250 employees. On average, a steel casting company generated sales of €37.5 million in fiscal year 2020.

Success factors

IBIS World identifies the following points as key success factors for the steel foundry industry:

  • Access to highly qualified workers
  • Rapid integration of new technologies
  • Optimal capacity utilization
  • Good reputation with customers
  • Passing on cost increases

Cost structure The cost structure of steel foundries in 2020 can be seen in the following graphic:

Competitive situation

In principle, steel foundries are not only in competition with other steel foundries
(internal competition), but also with companies from other industries (external competition). IBIS World estimates the competition among steel foundries as
moderate and forecasts a constant trend for the coming years.
High cost pressure burdens the steel foundries, which compete more with each other through product differentiation than through a price war. As already explained under the point “Demand determinants”, steel foundries are also in competition with iron or light metal foundries (external competition) due to the substitution danger of steel by iron or aluminum.

Market entry barriers

IBIS World classifies the market entry barriers into the steel casting industry as high. Essential restrictions are both the high acquisition costs for, for example, furnaces and the high raw material and energy input. In addition, highly qualified personnel (keyword shortage of skilled workers) as well as the restrictions on the choice of location (immediate proximity to iron ore and other raw material suppliers as well as proximity to customer industries to avoid high transport costs) are further essential entry barriers into the market of steel foundries.

Operational conditions

Capital intensity

IBIS World measures the degree of capital intensity by the ratio of wages to depreciation. The industry has a low capital intensity. For every euro that is invested in capital expenditure, 9.82 euros are spent on personnel in the industry. The reasons for this are that the activity of the foundry worker is well paid and particularly strict occupational safety regulations must be observed. The continuous repair and maintenance measures of the steel foundries lead to the fact that the need for investments in fixed assets is quite low, since the investment amounts, for example, in a new melting furnace are very high.

Technology and applications

According to IBIS World, there are currently no disruptive technologies recognizable in the steel foundry industry. In general, IBIS World estimates the technological change of the industry as moderate, as continuous research and development activities in the areas of quality assurance, damage analysis, 3D printing processes as well as energy and pollutant reduction can be observed in the industry. Currently, from the point of view of IBIS World, these research and development activities do not replace established industry products, nor is this to be expected in the coming years

Sales volatility

The sales of the past years in the steel foundry industry fluctuate very strongly compared to other industries. A key argument is the strong dependence of the industry on the economic situation of the customer industries such as rail vehicle construction, the automotive industry, the construction industry and mechanical engineering. Also the volatile steel price has a not negligible influence on the steel foundry industry. This instability is reinforced by trade policy disputes such as the trade dispute between the USA, the European Union, China and Russia. This conflict resulted in import duties on various steel products, which negatively affect the industry result.

Regulation IBIS World classifies the regulation of the steel foundry industry to a moderate level with an increasing trend. Above all, environmental regulations as a result of the high energy input of companies in this industry and the associated emission of pollutants play a significant role. In particular, the environmental regulations according to DIN EN ISO 50001, the levy according to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG levy) and the European Industrial Emissions Directive regulate the ecological footprint of steel foundries. The trend is seen as increasing, as in recent months and years, among other things, the steel foundries have to deal with the so-called “CO2 certificates”. The acquired certificates allow companies to exceed the permitted emission quantity by the value of the acquired certificate. In addition, sustainable issues will become more important in the future. This makes a further regulation of the pollutant load of steel foundries absolutely necessary.

Funding

The steel foundry industry receives only minor funding. Some companies can be exempted from the EEG levy if they provide appropriate proof of compliance with specific requirements. In addition, there is the Federal Association of the German Foundry Industry, whose main task is to represent the industry to politics and the public.

Current transactions in the steel foundry industry

Sale of Ascoval Hayage to LibertySteel in July 2020 (transaction value $81 million)

The ailing Hayange rail mill in northern France and the Ascoval steel mill in Saint-Saulve were acquired by British company Liberty Steel in July 2020 for a transaction value of $81 million.

Sale of ArcelorMittal USA to Cleveland-Cliffs in December 2020 (transaction value $1,400 million)

The sale of ArcelorMittal USA to Cleveland-Cliffs was completed in December 2020 in the form of a combination of cash and shares. Under the terms of the sale, ArcelorMittal received $505 million in cash, 78 million common shares of Cleveland-Cliffs, and non-voting preferred shares redeemable for approximately 58 million common shares of Cleveland-Cliffs or an equivalent amount in cash. As agreed, Cleveland-Cliffs assumed ArcelorMittal USA’s liabilities, including net liabilities of approximately $0.5 billion, as well as liabilities for pensions and other post-employment benefits.

Sale of Huta Częstochowa to LibertySteel in January 2021 (transaction value $51 million)

At the beginning of fiscal year 2021, LibertySteel acquired Huta Częstochowa, one of the largest steel mills in Poland, for $51 million. Production has already resumed, the first sheets have been rolled in the plant, using steel from LIBERTY Ostrava. Huta Częstochowa has 1,200 employees and is now renamed LIBERTY Częstochowa.

We – the team of starkpartners are your specialized transaction partner in the steel foundry industry! You are welcome to find out more about our team and its references under the following link:

https://starkpartners.de/team/

We know the specific challenges of your industry and together we shape the successful future of your company! An updated industry report from starkpartners is published at the beginning of each month and covers a different industry each month. We will be happy to keep you up to date!

Feel free to contact us!

You can reach us by phone at 02150 7058 210, by e-mail at office@starkpartners.de or on the web at www.starkpartners.de

Sources:

IBIS World 2021, Pexels

Foundry IBISWORLD Steel foundry